Only 2 percent of eligible businesses have signed up so far.
Yawn.
That seems to summarize small business owners’ sentiment on the Small Business Health Options Program component—so-called SHOP Exchange Marketplaces—of Obamacare. The exchanges, aimed to allow small business owners to choose among competing health plans online, have garnered an average of only 2 percent of signups from eligible businesses in states where they are available, according to The New York Times.
“If SHOP exchanges are going to be successful, they will have to compete on price and choice, and that’s not happening right now,” says Kevin Kuhlman, NFIB’s manager of legislative affairs. “The technical glitches and lack of interest in them means they’re not competing yet. Maybe in the future they can get their act together, but they’re not competitive on either of those fronts yet.”
